Clumsy
by JazzyCat
Summary: He'd managed to convince himself that he didn't save her from death because he liked her, but because he needed her abilities. But how convinced was he really? NaruMai-ish, drabbly almost-fluff oneshot.


It had bothered him in the beginning, but as time wore on, he grew accustomed to it, and even looked forward to it—as much as Naru is capable of looking forward to something, what with his restricted range of emotions.

He was amazed that it was possible to be as uncoordinated as Mai was; he was unaware that clumsiness could reach such an extent. He'd even had the sneaking suspicions that she was tripping on _purpose_—he was too smart not to have noticed her infatuation—but after continued observation, he realized she was just graceless. Why else would she fall down stairs when he was too far to come to her aide?

Throwing out the inkling that she did it for attention, he finally accepted that this was just a part of who she was, and should he wish to keep her latent psychic abilities around long enough to find his brother's body, then he would have to adjust.

And, obviously, make sure she didn't kill herself.

When walking on stairs—both up and down, because she was so hopeless that she fell _up_ the stairs as well—he made sure to be close. Almost every time, without fail, she would step on her shoelace or catch the toe of her sensible shoes around her ankle and with a startled shriek would plummet downward toward the ground.

And, every time, without fail, his arms would reach and intercept her, pulling her feather light body upward again and setting her on her feet.

Unfortunately, his job didn't stop at flights of stairs. A few times she'd carelessly walked too close to the edge of a ravine and slipped, or a malicious spirit had attempted to drag her into the spiritual abyss within the haunted well they'd made their home. And, of course, he had to save her then as well.

The ceiling had collapsed on top of her in once, and he had shielded her body from harm then as well, though he made excuses to himself later on, saying that he 'just wanted to make sure she didn't hit her head' and that 'his body was more resilient', though in all likelihood it wasn't.

And to make matters worse, he'd come to a realization in one particular case that would plague his mind.

It was fairly common for Mai to end up as a temporary vessel—she was very easily possessed, after all—but he'd learned after Kenji that he should worry in such situations; not all spirits would take care of her body. One such restless soul had taken over his assistant, but didn't make itself known until the group had gathered outside, staring up at Mai's lithe form standing precariously on the railing of the third floor balcony.

Eyes blank and smile wide, it was clear that she was not herself, yet nothing could be done before the ghost had time to act; no one could run fast enough to make it to the third floor from outside.

His heart had jumped into his throat when her body was pitched from the edge and toward ground at frightening speeds. His head filled with images of a crumpled and broken Mai lying in the grass in a pool of her own blood and his legs took him forward without thought to catch her before that could happen.

It was only then, when his arms were wrapped protectively around her that he realized how tiny she really was, how thin and breakable. She'd always seemed small, her short stature contributing greatly to this impression, but he'd never been completely cognizant of just _how_ small, and it frightened him.

He had enough strength in his anemic body to kill her, yet she was constantly at the mercy of people and spirits with much greater powers; powers that could take her life with much less effort in much less time. He felt like he had neglected her safety, and from that moment took extra care with the girl.

Because he was certain that if evil spirits or a sketchy kidnapper didn't kill Mai, then one bad fall down the stairs would. And that was what he was there to prevent. After all, why else would he have her stick to him so closely?

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**A/N: What do you think? It just kinda came to me and I was like 'well that's kind of cute' so I went ahead. It's all over the place, but I like it. Reviews?**


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